One woman died and six others were injured in a Route 2 crash in Gill.
GILL— A 28-year-old woman died and six other people were injured in a three-car collision that shut down Route 2 for several hours Saturday evening. Investigators are looking at weather conditions as a major factor in the crash.
Gill Police Department Sgt. Christopher Redmond said the woman was fatally injured when the 2010 Honda Fit she was driving was struck broadside by another vehicle at approximately 7:45 p.m. . That vehicle then careened off the Honda and struck a third car.
Ambulances from the Turners Falls Fire Department, the Deerfield Fire Department and the Baystate Health Services responded to the scene near the intersection with Setback Lane in Gill. In all, seven people were transported to the Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.
Police have identified the victim as Theresa Pendleton, of Erving. The accident continues to be under investigation, Redmond said.
Redmond would not say specifically that weather was the cause of the accident, but indicated that icing on the roadways in Franklin County was a problem.
"I can tell you that it was very slow going as we tried to respond to the accident scene," he said. "It was very icy on the roadways."
CBS3 Meteorologist Mike Sturko said that the season's first snow fall itself was not a major problem for most of Western Mass. But, in Franklin County the combination of the snow on roadways and temperatures in the low 20's did create the potential for dangerous conditions.
"The snow on the pavement froze due to the low temperatures, and you had basically a flash freezing situation," he said.
Snow squalls with high winds created white-out conditions in some areas along with the icing conditions.
"I think it caught a lot of people off guard," Sturko said.
Redmond said Route 2 in both travel directions was closed from the time of the accident until approximately 10 p.m., as Gill Police and the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Services team conducted their investigation.
Units from the Montague Police Department, the Northfield Police Department and the State Police assisted at the scene.
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